Volvo develops new way to blend body panels with batteries

Among the less spoken issues facing hybrids and electric cars are batteries. Everyone talks about range anxiety, but let’s face it: Batteries take up a lot of space and they add a lot of weight.

As part of a project put forth by the European Union, Volvo has come up with the fix. Over nearly four years and working hand-in-hand with various colleges, European companies and a Volvo S80, the solution lies with a specialized body panel that may look like it’s constructed out of carbon fibre.

At the heart of the panel is a super capacitor, which recharges much faster and stores more energy than a conventional battery. At 1 millimetre thin, the capacitor is then sandwiched by two carbon fibre sheets and a polymer resin, form-fitted into the shape of a body panel and finally cured in an oven. They can take the shape of any panel Volvo wants, be it a trunk lid, a door, or a fender liner, and placed around the car.

This means you can basically have an entire car that’s a carbon fibre battery. The panels are recharged through regenerative braking or by plugging in, and transfers energy to the electric motor. Whether or not it holds up well in the event of a collision remains to be seen, but knowing Volvo’s penchant for safety, this should be a piece of cake.